Hulu Plus for iPad Gets Improved Discoverability and User Experience

It’s been a long time since we’ve last seen any sort of major update to Hulu Plus’s iPad app. And thankfully, the latest version 3.0 of Hulu Plus, recently updates its iPad offering, with what the company calls an entirely new experience for your tablet.

The new version 3.0 includes a discovery panel that displays more details about episodes, shows, and seasons with a tap. It lets you find out more about an unfamiliar show with a single tap, pointing you towards the first, next or latest episode to watch, according to your viewing history with that particular show. Tapping an episode to pull up information on the show as well as that particular episode, and swiping left or right to browse the various collections and seasons of the show.

Next up is the ability to minimize videos while they’re playing by tapping the minimize icon or simply just pinching, as you normally would for photos. Here’s the best part: the video will continue to play during the whole process, letting you do other things in the app as it does.

Last but not least, there are also collections of editorially-curated shows, clips, and movies. You can now also watch content inline, which is a very nice improvement, and the search function has been improved too.

The full Hulu Plus version 3.0 for iPad changelog is as follows:

Videos can now be minimized during playback by tapping the minimize icon or using the pinch gesture. When minimized, the video continues to play while you browse through the rest of the app.

To see what an episode, show or season is all about, just tap on its image to view the new discovery panel. Double-tapping an image lets you begin watching a show immediately.

Hulu Plus for iPad now includes curated collections of shows, clips and movies

Short-form content and clips can be watch inline with just a tap

Hulu Plus v3.0 is now available as a free download in the iTunes App Store. The 12.3MB download is compatible iPads and iPad minis running iOS 5.0 or later. And as with the previous versions, users need a Hulu Plus paid subscription to take advantage of the app.